The Figure
The figure is an entity that appears in many of the artworks described in season 2 of Within the Wires. They usually stand in the background of the pieces, along the cliffs at Claudia Atieno's Cornwall house. They are first mentioned in the audio guide of the "Red Love" exhibit in the Ulster Museum in 1973. Roimata Mangakāhia pointed out the figure in the back of the repainting of Atieno's "Self Portrait with Cat" which was unfinished. The figure is described as a "rough blotch" and had apparently been mistaken for a tree by several people. Roimata, however, was sure that there was no tree where the figure was standing on the cliff. "It is a human, or at least a man. I do not know who the man is or what he wants or intends." Season 2, Cassette #2: Ulster Museum (1973) The figure was also mentioned in the audio guide of the "Reflections" exhibit in the Sree Chitra Art Gallery in 1979. This time they were pointed out by Roimata in her own painting, a self portrait painted in 1970. The painting was done while she was staying at the Cornwall house, in the bedroom at the top of the house. The figure was visible out of the window that was being reflected on the mirror. There were a few trees scattered around on the cliffs, and they were barely visible. "Slight and indistinct from this distance, just a dot in the middle of a reflection, there is a figure standing, waiting to jump." Season 2, Cassette #7: Sree Chitra Art Gallery (1979) This same painting and the figure in it is referenced in the audio guide for the Karikari Contemporary Gallery narrated by Hester Wells in 1986. Hester suggests that the figure is Atieno. She also adds that that would be strange, as Claudia did not enjoy diving from the cliffs as Roimata did. "Look at the mark atop the cliff. It’s not a tree, is it? Is it a person? It is. I think it is." Season 2, Cassette #10: Karikari Contemporary Gallery (1986) Another time the figure is mentioned, it was in another unfinished painting of Atieno's that was started while Roimata was there. Roimata had chosen the painting for the "In Memorium" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1981. The painting is of the cliffs and the sea beyond, and once again the figure is suggested to be a tree, despite Roimata not remembering there being one there. They were standing on the low southern cliff's edge, which was a favourite spot of Roimata's. She would often dive there at high tide and encouraged Claudia to do the same, although to her knowledge she never did. "This was also the last spot I saw her before she went away." Season 2, Cassette #9: Metropolitan Museum of Art (1981) There is an additional reference to a figure on the cliffs, in the "Unfinished Nightmares" exhibit in the Bardo Museum in 1975, although this may not be linked. The Bardo believed that the figure in "Untitled Figure with Hat" was not intended to be a specific person, although Roimata identifies her as Vishwati Ramados. Ramados is depicted smiling and wearing a hat which contrasts with her sari, and Roimata suggests that the painting was done on the patio at the Cornwall house, overlooking the cliffs. "Atieno did not detail much of Ramados’s surroundings, just her face, smile, hat, and shaded eyes. But notice the pencil stroke in the upper left, suggesting the flat horizon of the ocean." Season 2, Cassette #4: Bardo Museum (1975) References Category:Motifs